Documents abroad: passport, powers of attorney, the 284-FZ register
Right now
Note: a consulate visit is risky if you're wanted or in the summons register.
Use a local notary for a power of attorney, with apostille and translation.
Ask local authorities about an alien's passport if you can't renew yours.
Who helps (2) ↓Every organisation on this page has a designation: read the note on its card before writing.
Draft: not yet checked by a lawyerThe guides below are drafts: a lawyer has not reviewed them yet. This is not legal advice.
Draft What human rights defenders advise
Documents abroad
Before leaving, renew your passport and, if possible, get a second one; apostille diplomas and certificates; give a power of attorney to someone close.
Since 4 August 2026 consulates do not issue passports and provide almost no services to people on the 284-FZ register (convicted in absentia or penalised under 'political' articles of the Administrative Code). Visiting a consulate is also risky if you are wanted or in the summons register: an invalid passport can be seized. People have been detained outside the Gyumri consulate and after contacting the consulate in Turkey.
A power of attorney can be made with a local notary, with an apostille and translation, without the consulate. Russian notaries will not act for people on the 284-FZ register.
An expired passport does not end your Russian citizenship. If you cannot renew it, ask the local authorities about an alien's passport (the 'grey passport') or, if you have refugee status, a refugee travel document (the 'blue passport'). Poland, for example, issues such a document to Belarusians. Conditions depend on the country and your status.
Where to turn: The Ark (foreign agent; lawyers and knowledge base), Reforum Help (designated 'undesirable' in Russia; contact it from a phone that is unlikely to be seized).
Instead of a passport, a consulate may issue a certificate of return. It is valid only for entering Russia; you cannot travel back on it. If you face a case, are wanted or are on the register, you may be detained at the border. Discuss this with a lawyer before applying.
A person is stateless only if no country considers them its citizen. Some European countries give stateless people a special status and a travel document under the 1954 UN Convention. The Statelessness Index shows where such a procedure exists; the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) sets out the general rules.
Designations of organisations in this guide: Reforum Help (undesirable). Contacting them carries a risk: do not write from a phone that may be seized, and do not repost their materials.
Legal advice for people who have left (documents, residence permits, visas, asylum, extradition risk), temporary housing, free psychologists, mutual-aid chats by city.
Lawyers via the Telegram bots @kovcheglive_bot and @EmigrantHelpBot; psychologists and housing via forms on the website. Psychologists: 4-week online groups; waiting time from a few days to weeks. The Ark itself is a 'foreign agent'. The project was set up with support from the Anti-War Committee, designated 'terrorist' in Russia since March 2026. The Kovcheg website footer links to the Anti-War Committee: do not follow that link or subscribe to its channels from a device that could be checked.
Free psychologists and lawyers for forced emigrants: migration and visas, taxes, civil law, humanitarian residence; groups and seminars. Psychologists work in Russian and Belarusian.
A Reforum project of the Free Russia Foundation, designated 'undesirable' in Russia. If you travel to Russia, contacting an 'undesirable' organisation or joining its events can lead to prosecution, so check with a lawyer. Separately, Reforum Space Paris has also been 'undesirable' since July 2026, and the Reforum Space Vilnius community has been a 'foreign agent' since May 2026. In-person meetings in Paris and Vilnius carry extra risk.
online; Berlin, Vilnius, Warsaw, Paris, Tbilisiundesirablechecked against its site 26 September 2026